BayHawks looking to stay defensive against Maine

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BayHawks watchMaine Red Claws (6-2) at Erie BayHawks (3-4)-When: Today, 2 p.m.- Where: Erie Insurance Arena- Radio/TV: WJET-AM/1400, youtube.com/nbadleague, nba.com/dleague- Notable: Erie snapped a three-game skid by beating Iowa 99-84 Friday night at home. Nick Covington had a game-high 23 points, going 5-of-6 from 3-point range. ... Maine is riding a four-game winning streak that began with a 113-111 win at Erie. The Red Claws are 4-0 in road games. ... Erie forward Erik Daniels missed Friday's game with an ankle injury. He's been day-to-day. ... Boston Celtics rookies Fab Melo and Kris Joseph were sent down to the Red Claws. Joseph is averaging 21 points while Melo, a 7-footer, is averaging 7.3 points. The two have each played six games for Maine. ... Kyle Goldcamp rejoined the BayHawks as a practice player Wednesday. Once Goldcamp gets clearance from FIBA, Erie must waive, trade away or place a player on its inactive list to add him to its active 10-man roster. The 6-foot 10-inch, 250-pound power forward played three seasons with Erie. A former Gannon standout, Goldcamp averaged a career-high 14 points and 8.4 rebounds last season. ... Atop the East Division, Maine has a 2 1/2 game lead on Erie. -- Duane Rankin

Erie BayHawks coach Gene Cross admits he can be a bit long-winded on occasion.

"I want these guys to really understand why I say the things that I say or emphasize the things that I emphasize," Cross said. "I just have a lot of things to express to them to try to teach them and continue to teach them so they can grow and get better."

Sometimes it's all in fun.

Sometimes it's all business.

Lately, it's been all about playing defense because Erie hadn't been doing a good job of that.

The BayHawks had allowed an average of 106.7 points in three consecutive defeats before yielding just 84 in Friday night's 15-point win against Iowa (2-4) at Erie Insurance Arena.

"Our objective was to make it difficult for them, and that's what we did," BayHawks center Henry Sims said.

If the BayHawks (3-4) bottle up Maine (6-2) in today's 2 p.m. game, they will show the defensive consistency Cross is craving.

"The growth process, sometimes they don't like to hear it, but I think it's things that they need to hear," Cross said.

Erie gave up a season-high 113 points in last week's two-point loss to the Red Claws, who have won four straight games.

Playing with more effort on defense Friday, the BayHawks allowed only 16 points in the first quarter to Iowa.

"I was (expecting that) and I think they expected it more so than anything," Cross said.

Then in the fourth, Erie only allowed 15 points.

For the game, Iowa shot 34.8 percent from the field.

"We just relied on our defense," said BayHawks guard D.J. Kennedy, who had two of the team's seven steals Friday. "That's what it came down to."

In that three-game skid, Erie had given up at least 32 points in a quarter four times.

All those points came in the second half of the losses. Iowa had ripped the BayHawks for 37 in last week's 104-92 victory.

The BayHawks weren't about to let the Energy do that to them again a second time.

"Erie was the aggressor," Iowa coach Kevin Young said. "We were back on our heels. They picked up their defense quite a bit. (It was a) much, much better defensive effort out of those guys."

Iowa guards Justin Hurtt and Chris Wright combined for 61 points against Erie last week. The Energy duo didn't have the same success in the rematch; each scored 10 points.

"The biggest thing that I didn't expect was just the amount of aggression and pressure that (the BayHawks) showed defensively," Young said. "They didn't have that the other night."

Wright, who likes slicing into the paint with slashing drives, was denied time and time again by Keith Benson and Sims.

Benson blocked a game-high five shots, while Sims had three swats. Erie had 10 blocks total.

"The last time we played him, he took advantage of our paint," said Sims, who played at Georgetown with Wright. "Keith and I couldn't have that again."

DUANE RANKIN can be reached at 878-2210 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/DuaneRankin. Check out Duane's video interview with D-League president Dan Reed on his Give & Go blog at GoErie.com/blogs/giveandgo.

Online Extras

MORE ON THE BLOG: To read more about the Erie BayHawks, college hoops and the NBA on the Give And Go blog, click here.

MORE ONLINE: To see all our stories, photos, videos blog items and Tweets about the Erie BayHawks, click here.

BayHawks watchMaine Red Claws (6-2) at Erie BayHawks (3-4)-When: Today, 2 p.m.- Where: Erie Insurance Arena- Radio/TV: WJET-AM/1400, youtube.com/nbadleague, nba.com/dleague- Notable: Erie snapped a three-game skid by beating Iowa 99-84 Friday night at home. Nick Covington had a game-high 23 points, going 5-of-6 from 3-point range. ... Maine is riding a four-game winning streak that began with a 113-111 win at Erie. The Red Claws are 4-0 in road games. ... Erie forward Erik Daniels missed Friday's game with an ankle injury. He's been day-to-day. ... Boston Celtics rookies Fab Melo and Kris Joseph were sent down to the Red Claws. Joseph is averaging 21 points while Melo, a 7-footer, is averaging 7.3 points. The two have each played six games for Maine. ... Kyle Goldcamp rejoined the BayHawks as a practice player Wednesday. Once Goldcamp gets clearance from FIBA, Erie must waive, trade away or place a player on its inactive list to add him to its active 10-man roster. The 6-foot 10-inch, 250-pound power forward played three seasons with Erie. A former Gannon standout, Goldcamp averaged a career-high 14 points and 8.4 rebounds last season. ... Atop the East Division, Maine has a 2 1/2 game lead on Erie. -- Duane Rankin